Articles: local food systems (28)

When asked what a good food system looks like, Alward says, “I think it’s one filled with information. The most effective tool is information. Let the consumers decide.” To this end, the company emphasizes transparent labeling that not only identifies both product and producer, …

From a community land trust that preserves land for growing, to kitchens and retailers who buy and sell locally grown food, to a new waste management co-op that will return compost to the land, a crop of new businesses and nonprofits are building an integrated food economy.

In other essays I presented data showing that small-scale, local farms aren't always more energy efficient than larger-scale producers, but as far as energy used to distribute food local farms seem to have an advantage.

Years back a pair of planners, Branden Born and Mark Purcell, warned that there's nothing about smaller scale enterprises that make them inherently more efficient than their larger counterparts. With respect to on-farm energy intensity, they're certainly right.

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